Angel Network to invest $2.3 million in area businesses

The Rochester Angel Network has completed funding of its new Rochester Angel Fund, totaling $2.3 million from 67 members of the 75-member network. The money will be invested in Rochester businesses.

The funding will enable leaders to make eight to 10 investments over the next 10 years. Sweetwater Energy Inc. and Intrinsic Materials Ltd. already have received funding.

Each company will receive $200,000, on average, based on a vote of the network’s members once a due diligence committee has made a recommendation, Rochester Angel Network director and High Tech Rochester Inc. president James Senall said.

Members are also able to invest their own money apart from the official investment by the network for companies, a variation that could potentially mean a $200,000 to $400,000 addition to funding.

“With 67 individuals now participating in the Rochester Angel Fund, we’ve close to doubled the membership of RAN and fortified the impact we can make on the Rochester area,” said Don Golini, chairman of the Rochester Angel Network. “We were successful in bringing more individuals to the table, individuals who are willing to help us make significant investments in promising Rochester-area companies.”

Since 2005 the Rochester Angel Network has aimed to tie Rochester area investors with entrepreneurs who require seed and early stage investments for their startup companies. The 2013 creation of the Angel Fund allows the network to speed up the decision process of investment.